The full
Senate has approved a measure to set a graduation goal of 100
percent for Oklahoma high school students. Senate Bill 985,
by Sen. Kathleen
Wilcoxson, would also establish guidelines to give a more
accurate picture of graduation rates that will enable an “apples
to apples” comparison with other states.

“Right now, the stated goal for Oklahoma is a graduation
rate of 68 percent—that’s the goal filed as required
under ‘No Child Left Behind’ and it will remain
in effect through 2014,” said Wilcoxson, R-Oklahoma City.
“Senate Bill 985 sets the goal at 100 percent by that
year. We expect all high school students to graduate.”

The legislation also would set new guidelines for determining
actual graduation rates. Wilcoxson, Co-chair of the Senate Education
Committee, said those guidelines were contained in a compact
agreed upon by the National Governors Association so that states
would have a uniform means of compiling data that would allow
for accurate comparisons. Wilcoxson said even within Oklahoma,
when trying to look at graduation rates, the percentages in
any given report may be vastly different from one another because
different criteria are used.

“This is a problem not only in Oklahoma, but across the
nation. Some states base their graduation rate on how many seniors
begin the school year and then compare it to how many finish.
Some count students who don’t actually get their diplomas,
but get a GED, and that’s not the same,” Wilcoxson
said. “Under these proposed new guidelines, we’ll
compare the number of freshmen at the beginning of that year
to the actual number of seniors graduating. That will give us
a more accurate picture.”

SB 985 next moves to the House of Representatives for committee
action.